This week we find out what happened to Pierce after his drug binge with a tiny, imaginary Andy Dick. We also get clear pictures of many of our characters to remind us of their defining traits. Oh, and Jordie from Star Trek shows up and is surprisingly hilarious.
Play...
0:01 - Abed mentioning that the documentary format is easier because you can have people explain things directly to the camera was a risky move, since it seemed to take aim not only at Community's inexplicable rivalry last season with Modern Family, but also at NBC mainstays The Office and Parks & Recreation.
0:04 - This is a difficult thing to admit, but I don't like Shirley. It all stems from how gruff she was during the trip to the bar on Troy's birthday. Her complete inability to own up to her drunken mistakes just seemed so unfair and ugly to me, and I don't think she ever got any consequences for that. Her story in this episode, relating to her paranoia about the CD of what the group said behind her back was the first Shirley story I've fully enjoyed since the ugliness at the bar because it falls within the realm of what I buy about Shirley, that she uses her "niceness" as a weapon. To me that's much more entertaining and interesting than throwing melodramatic hissy fits over a drunken picture.
0:05 - Speaking of unusual weapons, who knew Pierce could do so much damage with checks? First becoming Annie's puppetmaster after paying her rent, now shaking Britta to her core with a blank check that can either go to charity or in her own bank account if she so chooses.
0:05 - "Me and Abed have an agreement, if one of us dies we stage it to look like a suicide caused by the unjust cancellation of Firefly. We're gonna get that show back on the air buddy!"
0:07 - "I'm not one to hold grudges Jeffrey. My father held grudges...I'll always hate him for that." The fact that Jeff rejects Pierce's game, by walking in ahead of Annie, who Pierce had summoned, then attempts to "nip this in the bud" and stop the craziness speaks to what I think makes him such an effective lead character. Abed might be great at defining situations and comparing them to similar instances in pop culture, but Jeff can also see what's going on, and what's coming, even when everyone else remains wrapped up in it. Abed is happy as an onlooker, and enjoys the zaniness, while Jeff always tries to skip the zaniness and get right to the resolution. It even goes all the way back to his fake law degree which is his reason for being at Greendale to begin with. He's smart enough to get a real one, but doesn't feel like he'll gain anything from that journey, so he skips to the resolution of having a (fake) degree. His core character trait might seem like a preference for being disengaged, but really it stems from always wanting to skip any kind of development or growth because he's convinced he already knows how it'll turn out anyway, so why waste time? The craziness of the other characters prevents this, because they all either need or want the slow burn of that journey, so Jeff ends up stuck on the slow path too. His development on the show comes in the moments when he buys into the journey, not because he'll learn a lesson (he almost always knows what that lesson is going to be, or at least fully believes he does) but because it's important to the others, and sometimes even becomes important to him.
0:12 - The best Jeff/Britta scene since...Antropology? This whole review seems to be turning into a discussion of each individual character and their traits, and I think that's okay because that's what the whole episode is about. Pierce's "bequeathments" are perfectly tailored to the destroy these characters, so we end up with many reminders about who these people are. The key to Britta isn't so much her self-delusion about what a self-less, thoughtful liberal she is, it's how easily she can get others to pay along with how she presents herself. There's a concept in communication called a Performance Team, which is when a group works together to put forth or maintain an impression or context despite whatever insider information they might have undermining it. Best example is the waitstaff in a restaurant, they might all know they're miserable and jaded, but it's in their interest to work together to present the image that they're chipper, friendly, and dedicated. Britta relies on the formation of performance teams ALL the time. She isn't looking for validation or reassurance, she just needs people who are willing to help her seem like the cool, enlightened person she wants to be. She and Jeff work as a comedy team because of his constant refusal to form a performance team with her, which is the easiest way to cause her to break character and reveal the selfish person she really is. When she tries to role-play as his Dad she immediately opens her arms for a hug, indicating that this is going to be a positive interaction. Jeff responds by rejecting to form a team to perform the skit she has suggested. He flips it around on her, pretending to be her Dad, a subtle way of saying, "I bet you think your Dad is an asshole, so let's see how positive YOUR meeting with him would be." The moments I think Britta is at her best is when she's trying to save face (meaning the act of preserving or repairing the image of yourself you've been presenting after it has come under question or attack) because she is terrible at it. When Jeff reveals that their imaginary meeting of the Dads has been taking place in Iran all along, Britta tries to reclaim mastery of the context by dropping her (shaky) political knowledge and bringing up the green zone. Jeff points out that's in Iraq, and Britta lashes out with the very un-enlightened, un-PC "well what do I know? I'm Jeff Wingers dumb gay Dad!" and turns away, pouting.
0:13 - First off, Donald Glover going catatonic is hilarious, and him crying is even funnier, so putting them together was gold. The essence of Troy is his sense of wonder about the world, but it doesn't make him a mindless optimist like Kenneth the Page. Things that cause wonder also cause intimidation, and while Troy has a child-like sense of wonder, he has an equally child-like feeling of inadequacy in the face of how intimidating the world is. So it makes complete, heartbreaking sense that he would be afraid to meet LeVar Burton because he couldn't imagine seeming like anything but a disappointment to so wonderful a figure.
0:13 - "I give you permission to weep." "I'm...crying on the inside." "Gross." I will never EVER feel the same way about that expression ever again.
0:14 - "And don't you DARE intercut this with footage of me freaking out!" My biggest criticism with all the mocumentaries on TV these days is that they don't use the reality of their concept enough. Very rarely on The Office does the production crew factor in or have real interaction with the characters. Off the top of my head I can think of the cameraman alerting Pam to Dwight eating a candy bar Angela had bought in "E-Mail Surveillance," and the crew confronting Jim and Pam with footage of them kissing and driving home together when they claimed to not be dating in "Fun Run." (Yes, I remembered both of those without having to look them up, including the episode titles) My point is, the characters don't often comment on their place or presentation on the show, even though that would surely be on their mind while being recorded. Luckily, since Community is just visiting the genre, they can play with it a bit more overtly, and we get Jeff's attempt to foil Abed's sure intention to undermine his claim that he's fine.
0:15 - "Are these blood diamonds? Are they holocaust diamonds?!" There's less to say about Annie in this episode, because her bequeathment is the only one that isn't an attack on her character. A good deal of the laughs that come from Annie are due to Alison Brie's unmatched ability to be instantly horrified by things. Annie's neurosis and concerns aren't a slippery slope, they're a sheer cliff face.
0:16 - Britta's mention that she's a horrible person because if the camera wasn't on her she would've made the check out to herself and kept the 10 grand speaks to the overall drama of the episode; the documentary format traps everyone as who they claim to be. Britta has to be selfless, Shirley has to be forgiving, Jeff has to be calm and detached, and Pierce has to be invulnerable. In the traditional format of the show, where the camera doesn't exist, they could give in to their true opinions and urges. So really it's Pierce's decision to document his bequeathing, and the format that creates, that leads to the drama more than Pierce's actions. How f'n smart is this show? Now we just need critics to do some actual work and realize that the format and genre changes aren't just shallow gimmicks.
0:18 - Another unusual thing to see in a sitcom was Jeff's warning to Pierce that if the "I found your father" routine was just a sick joke that he would beat him, and it wouldn't be wacky or madcap. We've seen violence on the show before, but it's always been wacky and madcap and safe. Jeff's acknowledgement of that added stakes and serious consequences to Pierce's little game and made things feel unsafe. That's pretty unusual for a sitcom.
0:23 - Thank goodness for LeVar Burton! "It's not that I'm selfish, it's just that I'm really stupid with my money!" is Britta's excited reaction to LeVar's 'complisult.'" Of course, what she's really excited about is the fact that he saved face for her, the thing she is always incapable of doing. Also, "thank God he didn't take it, can you imagine bouncing a check to Kunta Kinte?" is my favorite Britta line ever.
0:25 - One of my other favorite things about Community is its devotion to arcs, continuity, and call-backs. The fact that Pierce could refer to actual events on the show as justification for his revenge on the group (including the secret trampoline) feels much more rewarding than if the writers had just conveniently come up with a set of humorous, but unseen events for him to mention.
0:27 - Again, at the end Abed sums up the episode by summing up the documentary format, in case anyone didn't notice that being the dramatic conflict all along. He also made sure to point out he wasn't knocking the documentary format by pointing out its advantages. So put down your pitchforks The Office and Parks & Rec!
0:30 - "Oh well, more fish for Kunta."
Overall another fantastic episode from Community, and possibly the best evidence yet that, at its heart, this is a show about media, even if it discusses that via a set of lovable losers at a community college. Can't wait to see what they come up with next.
Status: *ding, ding, ding* Three thumbs up.
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